In his second season as an assistant football coach with the Indiana State football program is Luke Powell. Powell works with the team's wide receivers.
Powell helped Miles earn his first collegiate head coaching victory on October 24, 2009 when the Sycamores downed Western Illinois by the score of 17-14 in the annual Homecoming contest in front of over 6,000 fans.
He came to Indiana State from the Stanford Athletic Department where he served in the administration from July 08 until earlier this year. He also worked as the defensive backs coach at Menlo Atherton High School.
Prior to working with Stanford, he attended graduate school at Washington from 2007 until 2008, working on a graduate degree in Education.
Powell also previously worked at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., in 2005 where he coached the receivers and defensive backs. Hamilton put together an impressive 14-1 record with Powell on the coaching staff while capturing the Arizona State Championship.
Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Powell saw time during January of 2005 as a free agent with the Arizona Cardinals and also as a free agent in 2004 with the San Diego Chargers.
He also used his on the field talents to gain notice on the big screen as Powell was the quarterback in all of the game action scenes as part of the hit movie "We Are Marshall." Powell filmed his parts for the motion picture in Atlanta, Ga.
Powell played collegiataly at Stanford from 1999 until 2003. He was a First-Team All-America selection as a kick returner, and established
himself as one of the most dangerous players in college football. His 18.8 receiving average per catch ranked in the Top 5 all-time at Stanford. He was
also one of the school's all-time best punt returners, recording 47
punt returns for 533 yards and one touchdown.
He was named a
First-Team All-America kick return specialist in 2001 by the Football Writers Association Of American after averaging 16.0 yards
per punt return, second best in the nation. He was the first ever Cardinal to earn All-America honors as a kick returner.
As a redshirt freshman in 2000, Powell had four catches for over 60 yards and two more over 30 yards to go along with a
51-yard punt return for a touchdown. He finished the year with 18 receptions for
502 yards and three touchdowns and a team-leading 27.9 yards per catch average. Powell fell two receptions shy of qualifying for the school's single season
yards per catch record (21.1 ypc). He had nine punt returns for 95 yards and
three kickoff returns for 64 yards. His big plays included a 76-yard
touchdown reception at UCLA, a 75-yard touchdown pass play vs. Cal in The Big
Game, a 67-yard reception vs. San Jose State and a 60-yard reception vs.
Washington.
In high school, Powell was an option quarterback in high school who earned the reputation of being a
dangerous player every time he touched the ball. He was a three-year starter at
quarterback and defensive back for Smyrna High School in Tennessee where as a
senior, he threw for over 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns and ran for over 1,000
yards and 12 TDs.
